“Surrealism was a means of reuniting conscious and unconscious realms of experience so completely that the world of dream and fantasy would be joined to the everyday rational world in an absolute reality, a surreality.” Surrealism was a movement in visual art and literature that took place in Europe between the first and second world wars after the Dada movement. It was developed in 1924 by artist, Andre Breton. It was a reaction against “rationalism” and the culture and politics in Europe at that time. It was a way to portray fantasy and reality in the same work of art combined. Dreams were often used as a mode of inspiration, and many followers believed in the automatism theory. Automatism was seen as the best way to reveal and express ones unconscious and this was viewed as the best and truest way to do art. It was a way to combine rational and irrational thinking and be completely free in ones thinking and expression in art without the boundaries and reason and reality. The idea of an innocent childlike approach to art was also used. Surrealistic artists felt children’s art was more real than adult art because it hadn't been tainted with repression and other influences. Like romanticism and transcendentalism in literature imagination and feelings were taken over reason and scientific fact. But mostly surrealism was a combination of both what was existent and what was not. Surrealistic artists saw and object and created art out of it because that object inspired feelings which lead it to be transformed. This free style of painting was lead by artists like Max Ernest, Joan Miro, Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. A common technique that can be recognized in this type of painting in frottage or rubbing. Common mediums were used, and ordinary subject matter was altered and distorted. Here are 3 examples of surrealistic paintings by Rene Magritte, the first is called La Condition Humaine, ...
